Top: The European Union has notified Liberia that it would terminate a trade agreement with the West African country. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
By Gabriel M. Dixon
Monrovia – The European Union has notified Liberia of its intent to terminate a timber trade pact between the bloc and the West African country.
The Head of Delegation to Liberia Nona Deprez confirmed the EU’s decision to end the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in a letter to the NGO Coalition, a network of Liberian organizations.
“I confirm that the European Union (EU) communicated its intention to terminate the VPA FLEGT,” said Deprez in the letter seen by The DayLight. “A formal notification to the [Liberia] government is in process.”
The VPA ensures logs Liberia exports to the EU and other countries come from legal sources. It is a key component of the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan, known as FLEGT. It aims to address illegal logging and guarantees local communities’ benefits from forest resources.
The EU and Liberia began to negotiate the VPA in 2009 and signed the pact two years later.
The Liberian Legislature ratified the agreement in 2013, after which it became legally enforceable by both parties.
Deprez’s letter did not say the reason behind the planned termination. However, the news comes weeks after the European Parliament decided to terminate the VPA with Cameroon. It and Liberia are two of six countries in the agreement in Africa and Asia.
Most Liberian logs end up on Asian markets with lax timber regulatory regimes. The DayLight/Derick Snyder
The EU based its decision on Cameroon’s failure to qualify for FLEGT licensing, which allows a country to trade timber to EU member states.
Cameroon had promised to complete legal reforms for FLEGT licensing in five years but has instead witnessed illegal logging.
The situation in Liberia mirrors that of Cameroon.
Liberia has not met the requirements for the FLEGT license, though it has been 11 years since it signed the VPA.
Like Cameroon, Liberia exports the majority of its timber to Asian countries.
A recent review of forest concessions paints a grim picture of logging in Liberia. it says none of the 11 concessions evaluated were compliant with national laws. Companies lack forestry licenses, legal identity, and performance bonds.
Last year, the Associated Press reported an EU-commissioned, independent investigation found illegal logging on a “significant scale,” with the Forestry Development Authority breaching the law. The FDA regulates the forestry sector.
The investigation was prompted by the illegal harvesting of US$3 million worth of logs by the logging firm, Renaissance Group Inc. The FDA was found to have made unlawful decisions in assessing the severity of offenses and downplaying the seriousness of violations.
The Associated Press also reported Liberia exports 70 percent of its timber outside the legal system built with EU support, citing diplomatic sources.
NGOs are making a last-minute attempt to have the EU reconsider its decision.
Andrew Zelemen of the National Union of Community Forest Development Committees (NUCFDC), fears the decision would undermine gains in the forestry sector. Termination means more illegal logs to Asian markets with lax timber regulations.
“The termination of the VPA would likely have detrimental effects on local communities by promoting illegal logging, undermining economic stability and threatening environmental sustainability,” said Zelemen.
Dayugar Johnson of the Independent Forest Monitor said the NGO Coalition would try to halt the decision. He said it would stifle climate change mitigation efforts.
“We have started engaging various stakeholders locally and internationally,” said Johnson. “Our next move is to engage with the EU parliament to reason with them not to pass the resolution canceling the VPA in Liberia.”
The EU and the FDA did not immediately respond to queries for comments. However, in her letter to the NGOs, Deprez said Liberia’s forest was crucial for the region, and the EU remained a partner.
“We will continue to support and invest in the sector to strengthen it,” Deprez’s letter read, “to make it more sustainable and to fight illegality.”
This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).
Top: Participants of a five-day training exercise in Yekepa prepare a site for planting. Picture credit: USFS
By James Harding Giahyue
YEKEPA – Twenty-four forestry actors have been trained to combat deforestation and degraded forestlands in and around the East Nimba Nature Reserve, a conservation hub in the northeast county.
The exercise was part of the United States Forest Service’s support of Liberia’s AFR100 pledge to restore a million hectares of forests by 2030. (AFR100 seeks to reforest 100 million hectares in Africa) It seeks to restore wildlife—plants and animal species—in one of Liberia’s important landscapes.
“The workshop contributes significantly to enhancing forest restoration efforts in Liberia,” said Benedictus Freeman, USFS Liberia’s country coordinator. USFS has worked alongside USAID in Liberia since 2003. The training is the collaboration’s latest effort.
“By providing participants with the necessary knowledge and skills, the workshop has empowered them to play a vital role in restoring degraded lands in Liberia and promoting sustainable forest management,” Freeman added.
Deforestation, forest degradation and wildfire are some of Liberia’s biggest environmental challenges. Between 2001 and 2023, Liberia lost 2.36 million hectares of tree cover— 17 hectares from fire—according to the Global Forest Watch.
Experts say harmful farming methods, logging, and mining are the key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Liberia.
So, for five days last week at the Nimba Ecolodge in Yekepa, the forestry actors learned different techniques. They learned how to manage native tree nurseries, including shade construction with local materials, bed preparation, seed selection and sowing.
A nursery was established at the East Nimba Nature Reserve to spark the restoration activities.
The FDA, USFS Liberia and Guinean NGO Resource Naturelles Sans Pauvreté facilitated the training. It followed an April-May study tour during which USFS’ Guinean partners shared their experiences with their Liberian counterparts.
Freeman said training laid the foundation for a potential collaboration between Guinea and Liberia, particularly in the Nimba landscape.
Participants came from the University of Liberia, the Forest Training Institute, and the Forestry Development Authority. Others came from the reserve, communities adjacent to the reserve and civil society.
They toured potential forest restoration sites and experimental plots created by ArcelorMittal Liberia, which comanages the reserve with the FDA. The company donated seedlings.
“It means a lot to me. All the people who participated will be able to apply the knowledge in their communities,” said Alphonso Kiedor, FDA’s restoration manager. “It will transform our learning field as well. I am sure that we are going to make a great change.”
Freeman said the next steps would be to maintain the partnership with the FDA, ArcelorMittal and other participants.
Top: The Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga, Bong County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
By Wilmot Konah
GBARNGA, Bong County – A court said it will hear the case against four suspected timber smugglers who operated at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI).
Last week, Judge George S. Wiles Jr. denied a dismissal motion filed by a lawyer representing two Chinese Chaolong and Guoping Zang, a Turkish national Mehmet Onder Erem and their Liberian partner Terrentius Tidiboh Collins also known as Terrence Collins.
Defense lawyer Nathaniel Innis, Sr. had argued Forestry Development Authority’s board did not approve the lawsuit.
But Judge Wiles of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga, Bong County said the petition was unlawful. “For a party asserting claim not to have legal capacity to sue, it must be done in accordance with our law and practice,” read the ruling.
The FDA is suing the men for a 12-month prison term, US$25,000 and the forfeiture of their equipment. The court has seized the equipment and thousands of timber the men left at CARI.
The suspects deny any wrongdoing, saying they operated legally.
Top: Lofa authorities have stopped collecting L$1,000 on trucks transporting planks within and out of the county following a DayLight series. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
By Mason Kollie
VIONJAMA – There is evidence an illegal toll system for planks transported within and out of Lofa County, introduced by former Superintendent William Tamba Kamba, has been abolished.
Kamba announced scrapping the so-called Superintendent toll last year, following a DayLight investigation, admitting to its illegality. Yet, Lofa County Accountant Garmai Kennedy, one of the scheme’s masterminds, continued to collect the fees up to May.
But that has changed since another DayLight investigation exposed Kennedy. Interviews with key players in the chainsaw milling subindustry in the county and months of observation show the collections have been halted.
“Immediately we got the publication from your newspaper, we stopped the process,” said Superintendent Lavala Massaquoi in a DayLight interview.
“No more toll collection in Lofa County for now,” said Sekou Kamara, the chairman of the Lofa County’s branch of the Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union (LICSATDUN).
Between May and now, this reporter observed Kennedy no longer collected L$1,000 for a truckload of planks. Kennedy has also stopped enforcing the illegal payment at plank posts in Voinjama.
This reporter did not find collectors previously posted at a Forestry Development Authority (FDA) checkpoint in Voinjama. Inquiries at checkpoints in Zorzor and Salayea showed the same result.
“As for me, I [don’t] want lie, the way the woman and her agents used to run behind us from checkpoint to checkpoint and all in the corners, I [don’t] see them again,” Selekie Turay, a trucker.
“Only the FDA fee I can pay to the checkpoint. I traveled more than two times and nobody can collect superintendent fees from me,” Turay added.
Only the FDA and LICSATDUN collect fees on each plank transported within the country, per the Chainsaw Milling Regulation.
Counties can levy fees on planks under the Local Government Act. However, that power lies in the county council, a governance body that comprises chiefs, the youth and the disabled community.
Kennedy denies any wrongdoing. She claims she used the fees to buy a flag and underwrote senior staff’s travel costs, presenting no evidence.
Massaquoi said the county was investigating to confirm that claim. “‘No business as usual,’” he said, referencing the Boakai administration’s anti-corruption slogan. “If she is guilty, the law will punish her.”
This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists (CoFEJ)
Top: Participants of USFS’ timber identification workshop at CSIR-FORIG in Kumasi, Ghana. Picture credit: United States Forest Service
By James Harding Giahyue
MONROVIA – The United States Forest Service (USFS) has sponsored the training of seven Liberian foresters in identifying timber species using science-based technology through smartphones as part of the institution’s commitment to supporting Liberia in combating illegal timber harvesting and trading.
Drawn from the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), the University of Liberia and the Forestry Training Institute (FTI), participants acquired skills to identify various commercial timber species with the Agritix Xylorix mobile app. The technology is used worldwide for timber tracking and networking.
“As part of the response to address illegal timber trafficking in Liberia, the US Forest Service is providing technical and logistical support to strengthen the capacity of in-country stakeholders, including government ministries, agencies and civil society organizations to achieve Liberia’s policy objectives,” said Dr Benedictus Freeman, USFS Liberia’s Country Coordinator.
Illegal timber trafficking has been on the rise for several years in Liberia, with traffickers exploiting the industry’s capacity gaps. “Kpokolo,” the newest form, involves traffickers shaping timber into blocks and smuggling them through containers, robbing communities and the Liberian government of revenue.
Illegal logs held by the FDA at the Klay checkpoint in Bomi. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
The workshop’s participants acquired skillsets in wood anatomy, imaging, and using the Agritix Xylorix platforms to review timber’s macroscopic features.
“A lot was achieved in wood anatomy,” said Moses Wenyanpulu of the FDA’s Research and Development Department.
“Like every human, every wood species has a unique and distinct fingerprint called anatomical features found within the wood structure. Understanding these features are very critical to properly identifying timber or lumber,” Wenyanpulu added.
USFS has been active in Liberia since 2003, alongside the USAID on several projects.
Apart from its anti-timber trafficking project, it has helped develop FTI’s curriculum, provided teaching assistance to the institute, and supported students’ programs. USFS also supports the ecotourism development of the East Nimba Nature Reserve and the Lake Piso Multiple Use Reserve.
Top: Terrence Collins, also known as Terrentius Tidiboh Collins, is one of four suspected timber smugglers. Picture credit: LinkedIn/Terrentius Collins
By James Harding Giahyue
GBARNGA – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) is seeking penalties for four suspected timber smugglers who operated at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) in a lawsuit at the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga, Bong County. The court has seized thousands of timber abandoned at the facility and impounded the machines the suspects used.
FDA petitioned the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga, Bong County to imprison two Chinese nationals Chaolong Zang and Guoping Zang, a Turkish man Mehmet Onder Erem, and their Liberian alleged accomplice Terrence Collins. The agency seeks a 12-month term for the men if convicted, court documents filed this and last month show.
The lawsuit seeks a US$25,000 fine for the men as well as a forfeiture of machines and a vehicle used in their operations.
It accuses the men of conspiring and disregarding the law to “engage in logging activities, including the illegal harvesting, purchasing, transporting and processing of timber…” It adds that they “established a mini sawmill on the premises of… CARI…, where timber was being processed and smuggled out of Liberia…”
The lawsuit also seeks the forfeiture of a vehicle recently used by the suspects to transfer some of the timber to another location. Police in Gbarnga had arrested Jonah Jackson, the driver of one of the suspects, for transferring the wood to his house in Suakoko, police records show.
A collage showing allegedly illegally harvested timber at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI). The DayLight/Rebazar D. Forte
“On Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Mr. Zang sent me for the wood to take it from the CARI compound and carry it to my place in Suakoko for safekeeping,” Jackson wrote in a police affidavit.
“On Sunday, July 21, 2024, we continued to haul the balance. But surprisingly, while we got on the compound, we saw the CARI security and the OIC, and they called the police to arrest us.”
The court has impounded all machines and vehicles and imposed a stay on the timber until it determines the FDA’s petition. If granted, it will be the first time the agency has enforced the Regulation on Confiscated Logs, Timber and Timber Products since it was formulated in 2017. Previous attempts in Bomi, Gbarpolu and Monrovia in 2022 proved futile.
The lawsuit comes barely a month after the FDA abruptly aborted an initial attempt to petition the court. An April investigation by The DayLight had exposed the suspected syndicate, showing photographs and documents of the allegedly illegal operation.
Board Resolution
The men deny any wrongdoing, saying they would not have exported the timber without the FDA’s approval. They are asking Judge Cornelius Wennah to dismiss the case for “lack of legal capacity to sue” them.
Their lawyer Nathaniel K. Innis, Sr. argued that two prosecution resolutions by the board of directors of the FDA had expired. One of the resolutions, signed in 2022, calls on the FDA to prosecute alleged forestry offenders. The other, signed in 2017, endorsed the confiscation regulation being used in the trial.
“It behooves the current Managing Director Hon. J. Rudolph Merab, Sr. to have filed a petition against the [four men] with a board resolution…,” the petition read.
Jonah Jackson, a driver of one of the suspects, transferred some of the allegedly illegally harvested timber to his house in Suakoko, Bong County. The DayLight/Anonymous
Innis also argued that the suspects legally purchased logs from Alpha Logging and Wood Processing Company, which abandoned its concession in Lofa and Gbarpolu Counties. Therefore, Innis further argues, that the men could not forfeit the vehicles or machines and that the FDA had no right to confiscate the wood in question.
In Innis’ motion for dismissal, FDA lawyer Cllr. Yanquoi Dolo counterargued that it has the authority to enforce forestry legal frameworks and that the board resolution, which Innis hinged his argument, was a matter of corporate governance. Dolo argued the 2022 resolution was still valid and should be used to prosecute the suspects.
Dolo further argued that the men’s operations were illegal as the FDA did not permit them. He added that their transactions with Alpha Logging were not recorded in the FDA’s timber-tracking system.
The next hearing of the case has not been scheduled.
[Additional reporting by a Bong-based journalist]
This was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).
Top: The unfinished guesthouse in Karquekpo, Sinoe County. Picture credit: Anonymous
By Esau J. Farr
KARQUEKPO, Sinoe County – The People who own the Central River Dugbe Community Forest had hoped that they would get a guesthouse for their Independence Day celebration—or their “26.”
A Nigerian-owned Iroko Timber and Logging Company leased 13,193 hectares of land from the leadership of the forest in exchange for the guesthouse and other benefits.
But photographs and a video The DayLight obtained captured on Thursday show the project barely at window level.
“Nobody is expecting the keys to that building tomorrow,” said Cyrus Kartor, a youth leader in Karquekpo, where the guesthouse is being constructed.
Bartee Togba, the chief officer of the forest in Sinoe’s Jaedae District, had said the guesthouse was being completed in less than a day. “They are working there presently as I speak to you. Tomorrow (July 26) they may also go to work. I am sure,” Togba said.
The pictures and video show there has been no work at the construction site for some time.
The guesthouse is one of several projects Iroko is required to conduct, according to the contract. It was initially expected to be turned over to locals in October last year but was extended by nine months.
The unfinished dirt block guesthouse indicates Iroko’s lack of capacity to run a community forest. Recent DayLight investigations found Iroko owes locals land rental, harvesting and others to the community, while it has abandoned an unspecified number of logs.
Another view of the unfinished guesthouse. Picture credit: Anonymous
An earlier DayLight investigation uncovered Iroko was unqualified for logging when the FDA approved its contract in 2021. Its majority shareholder, Timothy Odebunmi, is linked to another company, Akewa, which was fined for fraud in 2019.
A forestry regulation disqualifies companies whose shareholders have been involved in an act of public dishonesty for five years.
This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).
Top: An Iroko Timber and Logging Company log yard outside Greenville, Sinoe County. The DayLight/Derick Snyder
By Esau J. Farr
KARQUEKPO, Sinoe County – In early 2022, there were widespread jubilations across the eight towns that own Central River-Dugbe Community Forest. They had leased the 13,193-hectare woodland to Iroko Timber and Logging Corporation for 15 years in exchange for development benefits.
But more than two years later, Iroko failed to live up to the agreement. It owes the villagers a huge debt and required projects.
“Our expectation was to bring development to our district and various towns…, including schools, clinics and safe drinking water for our people,” Alexander Slah, a member of the community leadership, said. “I am actually disappointed.”
As it stands, Iroko owes the Central River Dugbe Community US$20,368, based on interviews and official records. These fees include land rental, educational support, volunteer teachers and forest protection. Unpaid harvesting fees stand at US$8,927, according to official records.
The harvesting fees could be higher. Iroko declared 523 logs constituting 3,570.848 cubic meters, official records show. However, it abandoned some of the logs in the forest, locals say. Bartee Togba, the head of the community’s leadership, said he and other townspeople would scale the wood to determine Iroko’s full debt.
Besides unpaid fees, Iroko has failed to undertake contractual projects. It has not constructed five hand pumps it should have completed by last year, according to the contract.
Two Iroko machines in Polay Town, one of the communities that own the Central River Dugbe Community Forest. The DayLight/James Giahyue
“Instead of installing the hand pumps between November and March, the company started in June to August. So, the water table goes low during the dry season…,” Slah said. Arthur Nagbe, a religious leader in Karquekpo, corroborated his account.
Iroko is yet to construct three boundary roads connected to Karquekpo and a guesthouse, which should have all been completed last October. The renovation of an elementary school and the construction of a library that should have been completed this December, according to the agreement, have not also started.
‘Handpicked’
Like Iroko’s external failures, there are indications of internal disappointments since its establishment in July 2021.
Iroko targets 100,000 hectares in 15 years but cannot even manage 13,193 hectares so far. The firm projected production of 50,000 cubic meters of logs as of this year but has produced only 3,570 cubic meters of logs since 2022, official records show.
It declared that it owned eight earthmovers and leased nine others. However, it has been seen with way fewer. One old machine is at the log yard near Greenville and two others were parked in Polay Town after Karquekpo.
Togba criticized the FDA for the Iroko situation. “They (FDA) must know that they have equipment that is up to standard but these things were not done,” he said.
But townspeople The DayLight interviewed blamed the community leadership for choosing Iroko. They said community leaders who vetted Iroko did not have the experience to do so. “They were handpicked,” said Ernest Slah, a resident, in an interview on Somalia Drive, outside Monrovia.
Togba dismisses that claim. He claims only the government has the responsibility to vet companies, though locals have that right in community forest.
Iroko is a new company and did not have a track record at the time it signed the Central River Dugbe contract but its majority shareholder, Timothy Odebunmi, was a red flag. The Nigerian has a record of persistent, perennial indebtedness to communities through his other company, Akewa.
Akewa had owed communities hundreds of thousands of United States dollars for over a decade. One of its contracts was cancelled with unpaid fees and another has been embroiled in a lengthy debt-related out-of-court settlement.
Timothy Odebunmi, the majority shareholder in Iroko Timber and Logging Company, also owns a fifth of Akewa Group of Companies’ shares. His ownership in the latter company disqualified the former from logging activities in Liberia. Facebook/Timothy Odebunmi
That aside, Odebunmi’s shares in Iroko disqualified the company from conducting logging activities in Liberia at the time of the Central River Dugbe contract. Odebunmi has a 20-percent stake in Akewa Group of Companies, which was fined for forgery in 2019. The FDA’s Regulation on Bidder Qualifications rules out companies whose owners are linked to public dishonesty for five years. The FDA ignored that rule and prequalified Iroko.
Lied under oath
Iroko shrugs off claims and indications of struggling to live up to its contract and denies any wrongdoing.
“We don’t know what constitutes a ‘capacity issue’ from your point of view, and can, therefore, not address your question,” Iroko said in an email.
“We would like to state that Mr. Timothy Odebunmi is not aware of having own a share in Akewa, and also Mr. Timothy [Odebunmi] has no knowledge of any tax clearance forgery issue as alleged,” it added.
Iroko’s claims are not factual. More than one year ago, The DayLight exposed Odebunmi’s connection to Akewa in which the newspaper emailed the company about its findings. Moreover, a recent review of the forestry sector lists Odebunmi as an Akewa shareholder.
Iroko’s machine photographed in its log yard near Greenville. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr
Iroko might have avoided the capacity issue. However, everything about the company’s operations is suggestive of a struggle for survival.
Two months ago, the FDA approved the export permit of Iroko to sell over 2,600 cubic meters but it has not exported the consignment. It has not exported any of the logs it harvested nearly two years ago. A recent DayLight investigation found the logs are abandoned, as some six months have passed since they were harvested, the longest period a log should stay anywhere before export. The FDA said it would investigate the abandoned logs accusation.
The FDA argued it approved Iroko’s contract because it had no list of debarred companies or individuals. The regulator further said it could not enforce the qualification regulation because Iroko did not bid for Central River Dugbe.
Those assertions are not backed by law. While the regulation requires the FDA to form a debarment and suspension list, it does not restrict a company or individual’s eligibility to the list. An individual’s eligibility is covered under the prequalification criteria, the standard for that person’s participation in logging activities.
The fact Iroko was prequalified with Odebunmi’s stakes shows that the company lied under oath. Per the regulation, the Nigerian firm should be prosecuted for perjury. The FDA referenced that provision when it certificated Iroko: “Any statement made under oath to the panel that is found to be false renders this certificate null and void.”
Locals are running out of patience over Iroko’s delay in meeting its contract obligations. They have planned a meeting to discuss their future with the company after the Independence Day celebrations. Some have already made up their minds.
“We are disappointed because the company failed us,” said Arthur Nagbe, a community leader. “I don’t even want to work with them again.”
This story was a production of Forest and Environmental Journalists (CoFEJ).
Top: The Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga, Bong County. The DayLight/Wilmot Konah
By Rebazar D. Forte
GBARNGA, Bong County – The Forestry Development Authority aborted its process to obtain a court order to seize thousands of timber abandoned by smugglers at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI).
Multiple sources told The DayLight that the FDA would petition the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga last Monday for the warrant, the first step in confiscating the wood.
Before then, Deputy Managing Director Gertrude Nyaley had appeared to have corroborated that information when she gave a hint on the Forest Hour radio show on Okay FM.
When Cllr. Yanquoi Dolo, the FDA’s lawyer, arrived at the court on Monday, July 8, at 10:20 am, it looked like the process had begun. The FDA’s Lawyer entered the courthouse and exited it about 15 minutes later, according to our reporter.
Dolo declined an interview with The DayLight, hopped into a white vehicle, and left the courtyard.
Daniel Porlenkollie, the court’s clerk, confirmed that the FDA had not sought a warrant from the court.
The atmosphere at CARI was similar to that of the court. A police vehicle tried to enter the area where the illegally harvested planks were but did not. The vehicle left the area after honking for minutes, an indication of an abruptly aborted plan.
Dr. James Dolo, CARI’s officer in charge, said he was unaware of any plan by the FDA to seize the wood.
“The only team that came here was the Crime [Service] Division, based in Gbarnga,” he told The DayLight. They came to make a follow up on the Chinese guys who operated here in the fence, a group from the Economic Crimes Division,” Dr. James Dolo added. The division did not immediately respond to queries.
Cllr. Yanquoi Dolo, the FDA’s lawyer, entered the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court on Monday, July 8, 2024, reportedly to seek a warrant to seize thousands of timber at the Central Agriculture Research Institute but abandoned the plan shortly after. The DayLight/Rebazar Forte
It would have been the first time the FDA had enforced the Regulation on Confiscated Logs, Timber and Timber Products since it was formulated in 2017.
Under the regulation, the regulator must seek a court warrant to auction the planks. However, to do so, it must obtain court warrants to seize and confiscate the timber. If the planks are unsold at the auction, they must be given to the community or civil society.
The smugglers face a fine of thrice the value of the planks, a six-month prison term, or both fine and imprisonment upon a conviction.
The DayLight investigation discovered the network’s ringleaders were two Chinese Chaolong Zhong and Guoping Zhang, a Turkish Mehmet Onder Erem, and a Liberian named Terrence Collins.
The traffickers ran a company called CTL Industries in the China Aid compound of CARI for over two years. They purchased timber from Lofa, Nimba and vendors in Suakoko, Bong County, and processed and smuggled the wood via containers, the investigation found.
A screengrab of LiberTrace shows CTL Industries has never paid a dime for timber export, further proof of its trafficking activities.
Pictures and documents obtained by The DayLight show CTL trafficked timber in containers with the help of about 33 workers.
However, they halted their operations just before last year’s elections, abandoning an unspecified number of planks and equipment.
Records of LiberTrace, Liberia’s timber-tracking computer system, show no activities for CTL Industries, further proof of the illegality of its activities.
A collage featuring timber CTL Industries trafficked the abandoned at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) in Suakoko, Bong County. The DayLight/Rebazar D. Forte
This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).
Top: Masayaha’s bridge in Gbargbo, River Cess County breaks the FDA’s standards for a log bridge. The Ministry of Public Works disapproved of the construction. Picture credit: An anonymous villager
By Aaron Wesley Geezay
GARGBO VILLAGE, River Cess – Masayaha, a Lebanese-owned company, known for its repeated logging offenses, has harvested about 500 logs in River Cess County, outside of its area of operations.
In November 2021, Masayaha had a 15-year logging contract with the 43,792-hectare Bloquiah Community Forest in Gboe/Ploe Administrative District, Grand Gedeh County.
One year later, Masayaha entered a verbal logging deal with Gbargbo, a River Cess’ Norbor Clan village about 80 kilometers away from its contract area. Under the deal, villagers would allow the company to harvest the logs and build a temporary bridge over the Cestos River, which would later be transformed into a partial concrete structure.
The log bridge was good news for both parties.
Masayaha needed it to transport logs from Grand Gedeh to Grand Bassa since heavy vehicles were disallowed to use the Timbo River Bridge between Sinoe and River Cess.
The villagers saw the bridge as an opportunity to connect the Norbor Clan in the Yarnee District to the Kploh Chiefdom in the Central River Cess Administrative District.
“They asked us to allow them to cut 250 pieces of logs to fix the bridge,” Samuel Gbargbo, a resident of Gbargbo Village, told The DayLight. “And because we have been suffering for the road we agreed.”
Masayaha abandoned several logs on this field and other areas in Gbargbo Village it illegally harvested last year. The DayLight/Aaron Geezay
‘The people… fooled us’
Per the agreement, Masayaha paid the community US$1,500 and began harvesting. However, the logs were insufficient to complete the bridge so the parties signed another verbal agreement. This time, Masayaha only paid US$700, with the remaining US$800 yet to be paid, our investigation found.
And there were other problems. There was no concrete component of the bridge as Masayaha had promised. The bridge had been completed over a year ago, yet the company had failed to construct any concrete pillars. Besides, it abandoned several logs that they felled in Gbargbo’s forest.
This and the debt issue angered the villagers, who threatened to protest.
“The people came and fooled us and made us work for nothing,” said Melvin Wolloh, town chief of Norbor Clan.
Ali Harkous, Masayaha’s CEO and owner, said the Forestry Development Authority permitted it. “We applied to FDA to permit us to get the logs from around the area and they approved and we also approached community and they agreed,” Harkous said. He refused to share a copy with The DayLight or allow this reporter to see it.
A stump of a tree in Gbargbo Village, River Cess County Masayaha illegally harvested last year. The DayLight/Aaron Geezay
Harkous would not speak to the villagers’ claim but budged after persistent inquiry. “Frankly, tell them they should not worry, we are going to give [them] their money.
“We invested all we have and credited from some financial institutions. We are really into [a] financial problem,” Harkous said.
Harkous was right. The FDA permitted Masayaha to harvest logs for the bridge. However, his company grossly violated the permit’s terms.
The document and other papers, the FDA provided, did not permit Masayaha to harvest logs in River Cess, but rather Sinoe County. Two letters written by then-Senator Milton Teahjay of Sinoe County and Bloquiah Community Forest, seen by The DayLight, mentioned the Tarjuwon District.
Also, the permit ordered Masayaha to work with the FDA staff in that area to identify targeted trees and calculate the volume logs for the project. That, too, did not happen.
FDA’s record of the Masayaha felling in Gbargbo Village shows that the company felled 200 trees, not 500 the villagers said.
Then of the 200 logs, 62 were untagged, according to the FDA record. Similarly, the logs on the bridge, on an open field on the riverbank and in the bushes were untagged. Even the tree stumps this reporter photographed were missing obligatory tags.
The DayLight photographed several untagged logs abandoned by Masayaha in Gbargbo Village, River Cess. The DayLight/Aaron Geezay
The dates on the harvesting record and the communications are inconsistent, further proof of a dishonest operation. It shows rangers identified targeted trees on November 29, 2022—William V.S. Tubman’s birthday—for the harvesting. However, Masayaha’s request and the FDA’s response were written in December and January, respectively. This reveals that rangers had already counted, and tagged some of the trees before the FDA approved the harvesting.
Roadside logging
It is not the first time Masayaha has harvested logs outside its contract area. In 2022, a DayLight investigation exposed Masayaha’s illegal logging activities outside the Worr Community Forest in Grand Bassa County, where it exploited villagers’ need for roads. The report cited an August 2021 FDA publication in which investigators found evidence Masayaha connived with locals to steal timber. No actions were taken against the company for those activities, despite a protest.
William Pewu, FDA’s technical manager for commercial forestry, said Masayaha would go scot-free for its Gbargbo Village activities. Pewu claims the FDA does not record the logs in LiberTrace, a computer system that verifies the legality of timber.
“No, those logs are not for sale,” Pewu told The DayLight in an interview last week. “You only enroll logs in LiberTrace when they are for export. Those logs are for [a] bridge construction.”
Pewu’s comments are not backed by facts. The phrase “chain of custody” covers everything from “transport, interim storage, processing, distribution, and export.” In short, it extends from a log’s “source of origin in the forest to [its] end use.”
Furthermore, roadside logging does not derive from any law or regulation. In fact, in 2009, the FDA even fined a company for harvesting a hundred logs along a path outside a concession in Grand Bassa, according to a United Nations report. A 2017 regulation imposes a fine of twice the value of logs harvested outside a contract, a six-month prison term, or both fine and imprisonment upon a conviction. Other penalties include forfeiture of harvesting rights or a logging contract.
Masayaha illegally harvested over 500 logs from the Gbargbo Village in River Cess, 80 kilometers outside a Grand Gedeh forest, where it has a contract. The DayLight/Aaron Geezay
Masayaha’s illegal operation in Gbargbo bears a remarkable resemblance to the one conducted by a company nearly a decade ago. In 2016, an investigation by the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) found that Liberia Hardwood Company (LHC) harvested many logs outside the Bloquiah Community Forest. Strangely, some of the logs were felled in the very Gbargbo Village.
The FDA admitted at the time that roadside logging was illegal but said the logging would continue while it addressed “gaps” in the regulation. It took no action against LHC, which denied any wrongdoing, and there is still no regulation for roadside logging.
‘Not possible’
The bridge built from the illegal logs is equally tainted. It violates the standards for bridge construction, per the Code of Harvesting Practices. The code requires a log bridge to be built on a high portion of a riverbank so as not to stop or interfere with the water’s flow.
Masayaha engineers placed the logs directly in the water, stalling its natural course, photographs of the construction show.
Ministry of Public Works did not authorize the construction, a contravention of the precondition the FDA set for the construction. The Ministry said it had disapproved of the construction.
“Approval/consent was not provided on the basis that the [width] of the Cestos River was [wider],” Minister Roland Layfette Giddings told The DayLight. By the ministry’s standard, it was not possible to construct a log bridge at the location under consideration.”
That violation has led to consequences. At the start of the rainy season, the Cestos River overflowed its banks, washing many logs away. Masayaha later repaired it. Masayaha has started to use the bridge to transport logs to Buchanan.
But Fishermen, who have fished on the river for generations, now have to lift their canoes over the controversial bridge to access the other side of the river.
The story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).
